My main point was that it seemed the original poster was harangued for daring to ask an, in all essence, innocent question.
Hello A4, I'm not an aviation professional, but I am a text professional. That was NOT an innocent question. It started off by stating that there were rumours. OK, it's Rumours and News. But the CEO had information about previous form, so reasonably formed the opinion that it was a malicious, not innocent question, asked by someone who knew the consequences of rumours, however ill founded.
Here's a question, innocent or not is up to you: Does anyone think OP might possibly be an ex-employee with a grudge?